Among the many people who love to fish, perhaps the most dedicated to their sport are those who love to fly-fish. The art of successful fly-fishing, and it is an art, incorporates many different factors, including the skill of the fisherman, the type of equipment used, the stream fished, the weather, and certainly the type of "fly" being cast over the water to attract a fish to strike. With regard to the type of "fly" to use in any given situation, it is a choice only the fisherman can make when he arrives at the location where he is going to fish. Obviously, with experience and repeated visits to the same location, experience will aid in the selection of the type of "fly" to use.
One of the disadvantages faced by many fly-fishermen is that most fly-fishing requires fast running water in unpolluted streams, and these are usually found only at great distances from the centers of population. It thus requires that the fly-fisherman travel a great distance to enjoy the sport. This raises the specter that he might not have the proper fly for the particular stream, or sources for different types of flies may not be convenient, or the materials for the type of fly needed in any given situation may not be available. The subject matter of this invention is in part a response to the more widespread travel undertaken by the average fisherman and the increased popularity of fly-fishing in general. Because of these developments, the traditional or conventional storage devices for fly-tying tools and fly-tying materials are largely inadequate.
Heretofore, most travel or storage systems used by fly-fishermen were of two types: 1) the hard-case fly-tying box (or an adapted hard-case fishing tackle box of conventional design), and 2) the small streamside portable fly-tying kit.
The hard-case fly tying box utilizes a system of drawers with individually divided sections and a larger top-loading drawer for miscellaneous storage. Sometimes these cases are made of wood, but most recently, these hard-case fly-tying boxes are formed from hard plastic. This system has inherent drawbacks: materials and tools are not equally and easily visible and available at all times; the hard-case drawers and compartments are not always suitable to a fly-tyer's needs; and the overall bulk and size of the device makes it inappropriate for most travel applications. Included within this category of devices is the fly-tyer's hard-case briefcase. Yet, it too, has shortcomings. Most utilize a system of elastic loops for displaying and retaining tools; however, elastic deteriorates and stretches in time and this system provides little protection or security for the tools themselves. Furthermore, the briefcase typically provides little or no compartmentalization for materials or tools. The major disadvantage, however, is the bulk and size of this type of container.
An alternative to the bulky types of fly-tying bags and/or boxes discussed above is the so-called "streamside" tying kits which provide less bulk, but are disadvantageous in other ways. While they are small and very portable, they are inappropriate for extensive fly-tying. They typically contain their own abbreviated set of tying tools with little or no storage capacity for tying materials. They usually will not accommodate the serious fly-tying fisherman on an extended fishing trip or the traveling professional fly-tyer.
Recently there have been some commercial attempts at soft-pack tying cases. These have generally been binder-type arrangements comprised of a few loose-leaf polyethelene zip-lock bags together with a few general-purpose slip or patch pockets sewn onto the front and back of the soft-pack binder. These are inadequate in that they lack carrying capacity and are not organized from a functional point of view. To my knowledge, none of these devices has been patented. The so-called "Lake Creek" fly-tying cases are similar in concept, but not in structure, to my invention as described and illustrated herein. Yet, while they contain their own "knee bench", they do not provide adequate storage capacity and compartmentalization for the serious fly-tying fisherman.
A preliminary patentability and novelty search conducted in connection with the subject matter of my invention revealed the existence of U.S. Pat. No(s). 2,011,709; 2,065,234; 2,540,340; 2,691,400 and 4,691,469. An examination of the first three patents listed above will reveal that each relates to a container for carrying completed flies. None of these devices relates in any way to a container for organizing the materials and the tools with which flies are made. Additionally, none of the structures depicted in these first three patents has any structural correspondence to the subject matter of my invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,691,400 relates to a fisherman's utility bag which may be put to many different uses. While it may be used to carry fly-tying tools and materials, as any duffel bag may, its intended design is for carrying fishing tackle in completed form. Furthermore, there is considerable structural difference between this patented structure and my invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,469 relates to a fishing tackle management system designed specifically to hold fishing tackle rather than tools and materials for constructing flies. Again, its structure and organization is substantially different from my invention.
Fly-tying is undergoing a creative revolution at the present time resulting from several factors. Among these is the availability of many new synthetic materials which has encouraged greater experimentation with techniques, tools, and materials. The modern fly-tying fisherman now carries many new materials and tools that have not previously existed. Increased knowledge about the feeding habits of fish and the life-cycles of aquatic insects has furthermore induced a demand for more exacting imitations from the fly-tyer. These factors, among others, are making fly-tying very specialized, and are in turn creating a demand for a more adequate portable organizational system such as my tote.
Accordingly, one of the important objects of my invention is the provision of a compact soft-pack tote bag for carrying fly-tying tools and materials in an organized and easily accessible manner.
Another important object of my invention is the provision of a tote bag for fly-tying tools and materials that is appropriate for travel, yet large enough to accommodate the many different types of materials and tools used by a serious fly-tying fisherman.
A still further object of the invention is the provision of a tote bag for fly-tying equipment and materials that presents a well-organized system that provides equal visibility and equal access to all the tools and materials.
Most bags used for the purpose of my invention merely provide a void within the bag into which tools and materials may be deposited and from which they must be extricated with difficulty. Accordingly it is yet another object of my invention to provide a tote bag for fly-tying equipment and materials in which the bag provides and dictates a system for storing tools, equipment and materials so that they may be retrieved for use in a quick and efficient manner.
It is anticipated that every fly-tying fisherman will have his own method of organization, and it is therefore another object of the invention to provide a tote bag for fly-tying tools, equipment and materials that is specific enough to be functionally efficient, while being generic enough to be flexible and adaptable to the individual needs of any given fly-tyer.
Some of the tools and equipment utilized to tie flies are durable hard goods that can cause damage to other tools or materials with which they might impact during transport. Accordingly, it is another object of the invention to provide a tote bag for such fly-tying tools and equipment that will not only hold such tools and equipment secure, but will provide protection for said tools and materials during storage and transport.
The invention possesses other objects and features of value, some of which, with the foregoing, will be apparent from the following description and the drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the embodiment illustrated and described since it may be embodied in various forms within the scope of the appended claims.